GALLAGHER'S WORD

"What a beautiful mess! What a beautiful mess I'm in."Diamond Rio once said that in a song. It is also the best way to describe the Pittsburgh Penguins two games out of the Olympic break.The beauty of the Penguins mess lies within the standings. This team is currently at the top of the conference and division standings. Their 14 point lead in the Metropolitan is astonishing. When the regular season wraps up, this team will be either a one or two seed in the conference going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. From a vague distance, this team looks like one that is in the drivers seat with an easy path through the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. When you get a little closer, you see a team that may not have a long playoff with its current roster that has a couple holes to fill. The mess is the list of injuries that keep accumulating for the Penguins. Kris Letang's stroke and Paul Martin's broken hand thins them out defensively. First line winger Pascal Dupuis' torn ACL in his knee might keep him out the rest of the season and Beau Bennett's setback was hard to hear as well coming out of the Olympics. Those injuries seem to be catching up with the Penguins over the past few games.With the NHL trade deadline upcoming on March 5 at 3 p.m. ET, fans are hoping that General Manager Ray Shero will make a move that will help improve the roster, but not mortgage too much of the franchises future. Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks tops a lot of wish lists with the fanbase and some reports say that the Penguins are still pursuing him. So the next 72 hours will be intriguing to watch as the deadline nears and if Shero can pull off another big deal. Diamond Rio has not released an album since 2009. The same year the Penguins last won the Stanley Cup. "What a beautiful, what a beautiful mess I'm in."